Thursday, 31 October 2013

From November 13th till 24th
2014; 135 films from 43 countries; 180 screenings in the following venues: the Cinémathèque
Québécois, Excentris, Monument-National, Concordia University and Cinéma du Parc.

The following
retrospectives and tributes will be presented:

1.Legendary French-German
filmmaker Marcel Ophüls.

2.Sensory
Ethnography Lab.

3.Strip-Tease – television series Franco-Belge

4.Filmmakers Michel Brault and
Arthur Lamothe - recently passed away.

For the second year, Docs
2.0 returns to present the best in interactive web-documentaries. A new
section called Beat Dox offering
five different facets of music.

Below find a run-down of all the films seen at this year’s
festival. If time permits, a more elaborate critique (features only) will
appear under the label “Film Box-Office.” They will be identified with the RIDM
2013 logo. Updates will appear on a frequent basis (hopefully once a day) so
please visit frequently.

The fjords of northeastern Greenland have never
been explored by man until now, being previously inaccessible due to the arctic
sea ice cap. For a few weeks, due to global warming, the ice melts sufficiently
to allow entrance into this ‘virgin land.’ A rag-tag crew consisting of a geologist, a geographer, a geochemist,
a marine biologist and a couple of artists board the three-masted schooner
Activ. With awe inspiring cinematography, haunting sound work and plenty of
humor, the result is a very memorable film that can be enjoyed for many
generations to come.

Filmmakers
Mélanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins take the road on their bicycles on a quest
to discover what it truly means to be ‘pure laine’ Quebecois and what is the
true relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal. Be prepared! Many
concepts taught in history class and deeply held may have to be rethought.

Filmmaker receives a phone call from Vincent, an
ex-boyfriend, who has just been released from prison. With past memories of her
relationship with Vincent overwhelming her, she is conflicted as to whether to
go back to the past or to move on. The film blends the line between
autobiographical and fiction but makes a clear distinction between her personal
and private life.

On November 28 2011, the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo went to the
polls to elect their next president. Each candidate campaigned through the Ataluku
(Criers) who were paid to promote them on the streets. Filmmaker follows
Gaylor, a part time pastor. Effectively captures the extreme difficulties of
establishing a true democracy in a country that is among the most destitute in
the world. The Congo is a country where ‘loyalty’ is towards the party who has
the largest bank account, everything is a business transaction and the
situation can quickly descend into chaos and violence.

Sherman Frank Merchant is a 6’6” rugged 46-year-old
night-laborer for a seafood processing plant in Prospect Harbour Maine. This
original ground-breaking documentary observes Sherman as he walks through the
seemingly empty building, performing his nightly tasks interspersed with lunch
and / or smoking breaks. Engaging, suspenseful and often funny, puts the viewer
off-kilter taking him / her where least expected.

A diverse group of young Sudanese men and women from
North, South, Darfour and other regions, give voice as to their concerns, hopes
and dreams and a place to call ‘Home’ as they face the
inevitability of fragmentation.Combining the personal testimonies of these
individuals along with reportage and cultural history, the filmmaker has
successfully painted an intimate portrait of Sudan’s problems.

This thrilling portrait of musician, feminist
activist and punk zine writer Kathleen Hanna, born 1968 in Oregon, strikes a
perfect balance between intimate and contextual. The film documents her life
from the beginnings of Bikini Kill and the Riot grrrl movement to her battle
with Lyme disease (which forced her take a hiatus from music) and her recent
project The Julie Ruin.

A panoramic observation of a typical day on López
Street located in Mexico City’s historic center beginning with the street
cleaners with their push carts to the vendors selling their goods and services
to their various customers. A cinematic theatrical poem shot in black and white
providing the viewer with a microcosm of everyday life.

This powerful and triumphant film is a chronicle
of the youth-driven movement called Shannon’s
Dream. Shannon Koostachin was frustrated by unfulfilled promises of a new
school for her First Nation community of Attawapiskat, Ontario. She tried in
vain to alert the federal government to the gross underfunding and abject
conditions of First Nations schools and proclaimed the right that all children
need a proper education. Despite her untimely death at 15 due to a car
accident, the movement culminated in a delegation speaking before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva.

Taking the form of an ‘avant-garde’ newsreel,
filmmaker documents the major highlights of the 15-M Movement, launched on May
15 2011 when hundreds of thousands protesters descended on Puerta del Sol in
Madrid.It was the beginning of a
revolutionary class struggle as the people demonstrated against local
authorities, austerity measures and global capitalism.

Ernestine Ouandie recounts her life story to the
filmmaker. She is the daughter of Ernest Ouandie, a militant who was executed
by Cameroonian authorities in 1971. She recounts her painful childhood and her
quest as an adult to make her abstract absent father real. A moving and
profound reflection on the consequences of colonialism especially on identity.

Residents of a Russian rural psychiatric
hospital, wander about the grounds, toiling, talking and waiting. The film’s
blurry black and white image with little or no dialogue gives the impression
that it was made at the dawn of cinema – characters from another time or
another world, ghosts, angels?

Rachel Boyton’s second feature film is a marvel
of investigative reporting as she leaves no stones unturned taking us behind
the scenes into the world of the oil industry and who will profit from
bountiful reserves. Beginning in 2006 she follows the complex process of
developing and exploiting oil reserves found off the coast of Ghana. At the
same time she paints a dismal picture of the situation in Nigeria as everyone
scrambles to profit from oil.

Mixing archival amateur footage with spoken word
and music, the filmmakers have created a performance video that is a potent
reflection of the power of colonial imagery and a reminder that fascism still
lurks hidden in a nearby crevice waiting for an opportune moment to rear its
ugly head. The footage begins with images of Mussolini's execution. The rest of
the images were shot by Italian soldiers in Ethiopia in the 1930s.

Harry Dean Stanton (born 1926) is a prolific
character actor; he has played in over 250 films in his 50+ years of acting.
Due to his distinctive presence on the screen, everyone is familiar with him
though they may not be aware of it. This portrait brings the essence of a
solitary, quiet and modest man who also has a delightful singing voice.

A thought-provoking film that questions the
value of the competitiveness of extreme sports events such as snowboarding,
freestyle skiing, windsurfing and motocross. With strong industry funding,
young athletes fiercely compete with each other to reach ever-increasing
heights of achievement. Such was the case between rival snowboarders Kevin
Pearce and Shaun White as they were getting ready for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
While training, Kevin has a serious accident that puts him in a coma. This film
is a journal of his rehabilitation and his struggle with facing the reality
that the risk of returning was too great.

When an ad is posted in Turin Italy, for jobs in
Yakutat, Alaska over 400 apply. All are desirous of escaping their precarious
existence –a reflection of the present situation in the country. This film
follows the whole process from choosing the successful applicants, their flight
to Alaska, finding out that the plant has changed its mind and their decision
to stay. An adventurous and insightful film that maintains its human warmth as
most of the protagonists became best of friends.

Guided by their professor, Manoug Manougian, a group
of physics students from Hagazian University in Beirut Lebanon, began to build
rocket ships in 1960. A Cedar IV rocket was successfully launched in 1963 to a
height of 140km. Their final launch was in 1966. This has since descended into
obscurity. This historical investigative film is built from rare archival
footage and interviews with key players. The film ends with the recreation of
the Cedar IV and an animated short on a ‘space age’ Lebanon.A bit academic in the beginning, not very
engaging. The animation did not really fit.

Filmmaker's first feature length film is an
intimate account of growing up in the shadow of world-renowned artists. She is
the third daughter of Martha Argerich (born 1941 in Buenos Aires) from her
third marriage with Stephen Kovacevich (born 1940 in California). Both are
ranked as top classical pianists.

This observational film of a group of workers on
a demolition site creates a social and aesthetic portrait of modern China’s
transformation. Initially the filmmaker keeps his distance with formality but
as the film progresses the relationship becomes more intimate and light-hearted.
Very revealing of Chinese society. Shot in July of 2007.

This film, shot on the banks of the Songhua
River near the city of Harbin in Northeast China in July of 2006, meticulously
following the day-to-day activities of its inhabitants whose existence depends
on the river. An intensely observational film that touches upon the effect of
modernity and environmental issues on traditional Chinese society.

A portrait of two men with a passion for the
other’s culture. Adalbert Heide is a German missionary who has worked with the
Xavante people for over 50 years. Having a passion for Super-8, he has amassed
an extensive archive of filmed documentation of their culture. The other is Divino
Tserewahu, a former student and now professional filmmaker. Their friendly criticisms
and competitiveness coupled with their mutual admiration has been
sympathetically perceived by a third filmmaker, Tiego Campos.

The Caminata Nocturna is a theme park in El
Alberto, Mexico where simulations of illegal border crossings are put on for
tourists to increase their awareness of the perils. I found that the topic was
handled in a manner unbecoming of its seriousness – came across more as a
thrill seeking game than an awareness exercise.

This fascinating and insightful film pieces together the
life of street photographer and former nanny, Vivian Maier (1926-2009). Amateur
historian and co-director John Maloof was intrigued when he bought a box full
of negatives. This catapulted and transformed a complete unknown and intensely reserved and private person into one of the 20th century’s greatest photographers. Definitely a posthumous miracle.

A spectacular and deeply moving epic documentary
that follows the events in Cairo’s Tahrir Square from January 2011 (the first
anti-Mubarak protests) to July 2013 (the
fall of Mohammed Morsi); the struggle of the people of Egypt to break free of
the bondage placed upon them first by Mubarak, then the army and lastly Morsi;
fighting for basic human rights.

This paradoxical and experimental film superimposes
stunning images of the aurora borealis with those of decaying manmade debris.
It is a poetic reflection on the power
of nature and the illusion on progress.

This experimental avant-guard film is a montage of
colour super 8 and black and white 16mm found footage accompanied by four epistolary monologues; major historical
moments recalled with love and/or bitterness.

This sensitive film centers upon a little girl with
a fertile imagination. By creating a fantasy world where games, music and magic
rein, she takes refuge from a dismal, dysfunctional and violent life. It is her
only way to survive the endless drinking binges indulged in by the adults in
her life.

Pieced together, as if it was a jigsaw puzzle,
from a trash can on a street in Madrid, comes a mythical, almost apocalyptic, story of the Modlins – Elmer, a failed actor
who was an extra on the last scene of Rosemary’s
Baby; Margaret, painter of mysticalpaintings who was tormented by failure; and their painfully shy son,
moulded by his parents as if he was just another artwork.

The Da
Vinci surgical system is a robotic system that allows the surgeon to
perform intricate operations with enhanced vision, precision, dexterity and control
on a patient with minimal invasion. This astoundingly choreographed and
otherworldly imagery brings the fictional world of Fantastic Voyage (1966) into the world of reality.

This nightmarish and subversive animated film
brings to light a little known disaster that took place in the forgotten and
neglected community of Hanford Washington. In the late 80s the community was
seriously contaminated by radioactive waste from a nearby nuclear weapons
manufacturer.

Using sculptured terra cotta models and archival
images, the filmmaker reconstructs the memories of his childhood that was abruptly
interrupted by the Khmer Rouge. Well-constructed, this is an essential
heartbreaking film that shouts out the suffering incurred when one group
dehumanizes another.

A Third Version of the Imaginary / Une Troisième Version de L'Imaginaire, Kenya / United
States / États-Unis 2012, Benjamin Tiven

As we watch one man reorganising videocassettes,
we hear another reflecting on the early days of video in Kenya and the idea of
archives. A profound and subtle meditation on images and their durability –
though erased is it still possible to see them?

A day behind the scenes as staff, personalities
and guests of Radio France prepare to inform, entertain and provide
companionship to millions of listeners. As one of my colleagues mentioned it
was an excellent opportunity to attach a face to the voice. It was also a very
instructional and engaging look at the complexity of filling the airwaves 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.

An engaging look into the remaining inhabitants
of Itapuã, Brazil. Itapuã
is nestled in an earthly paradise away from any urban centers and was
established over 70 years ago to isolate those diagnosed with leprosy. At one
point the community sheltered nearly 1500 residents of all ages. Today only 35
remain, all of whom are over 60.

Veteran filmmaker Joaquim Pinto has been
suffering from HIV and Hepatitis C since the late 90s. When in 2011, he is put
on a program of clinical trials with a cocktail of experimental drugs; he
decides to film his experience for a period of one year. Though the film
contained many informative moments I found it uncomfortably too personal and
too long.

Nikolaus 'Klaus'
Barbie (1913-1991) was a member of the Nazi SS and led the Gestapo unit
headquartered at the Hôtel Terminus in Lyon’s France. He was arrested in 1983
for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He had become known as the “Butcher
of Lyon” due to his brutality and an estimated 14 thousand deaths. This
exceptionally well researched and detailed film investigates the life and times
of this man.

An innovative and original film that observes the daily lives of the
crew of an industrial fishing boat. A thrilling and harrowing cinematic
experience that takes the viewer on a dreamlike voyage on the seas. Very little dialogue.

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Collaborators / Collaborateurs:

Sylvain Richard

Nancy Snipper

Note / Nota:

July 10, 2016:The beginning of a new and exciting chapter! Nancy Snipper's (a.k.a S.N.) first posting on her own blog: http://sntravelandartswithoutborders.blogspot.ca/**********************************************To see all articles on a specific topic, scroll down to LABELS and click on desired LABEL. Full articles will appear one after the other that pertain to that label.Keep scrolling down to view more articles, and at end of page, click on OLDER POSTS to read more.Enjoy!